About calculating state unemployment insurance (SUI) in a multiple state environment

Caution! The rules for paying SUI for interstate employment are complicated and for definitions and determination of how these rules apply to each employee, you should refer to your accountant or CPA.

The 50 states have agreed on a “uniform definition of employment” to prevent duplicate contributions for the services of a multi-state worker. Under this Uniform Definition of Employment, there are four basic factors that must be considered when determining employment coverage. These factors are as follow in order of importance:

• The place where work is Localized
• The site of the Base of Operations
• The place from which Operations is Directed or Controlled
• The Employee's Residence
• The SUI Calculation, rate, and maximum (the first factor) should be entered on the 5-2-1 Employees window for the single state that is determined to apply to that employee.

Important! All SUI calculations that are active on the calculation tab of an employee’s record in 5-2-1 Employees > Payroll > Payroll Processing > Employees populate on each timecard. Any SUI calculation that does not apply to a timecard must be overridden to zero dollars manually.